Oakwood Hospital

Well over 60,000 people lived in Dearborn by 1940. By that time, it was clear for people in city government that a fully functional hospital was needed closer than Detroit. Mayor Orville Hubbard spent years in the 1940s trying to establish a municipal hospital for the city. However his plans were cancelled by the announcement that the Greater Detroit Hospital Fund would be spending over $4,000,000 in donated money to build what became Oakwood Hospital. Still Hubbard tried to get involved with the project and used the prospect of the city building a municipal hospital instead as a bargaining chip. His involvement was deemed unpopular and it helped precipitate a recall movement in 1951.

One of a series of general leaflets distributed by Mayor Hubbard to promote building a hospital in Dearborn
Flyer from 1950 supporting the construction of Oakwood Hospital
Newspaper advertisement from 1950 supporting the construction of Oakwood Hospital

On Ford donated property, the groundbreaking of Oakwood Hospital happened in August 1950. It was opened on January 5th 1953. More history of the hospital can be read here: https://www.beaumont.org/about-us/history/a-history-of-healing-at-oakwood-healthcare

Oakwood Hospital 1950 groundbreaking
Oakwood Hospital in March 1953
Oakwood Hospital patient room pictured in March 1957
Images of Oakwood Hospital from the May 12th 1966 Dearborn Press
Rates charged by Oakwood Hospital in 1966
Victims in an imaginary plane crash receiving emergency treatment at Oakwood Hospital as part of a test for hospitals in the area – 1975
Nurses Station at new Skillman Wing of Oakwood Hospital – 1977
Medical Library at new Skillman Wing of Oakwood Hospital – 1977
Ronald Sturgeon receiving therapy from Radiology Technicians at Oakwood Hospital – 1977
Main Lobby at Oakwood Hospital

Oakwood Hospital and the Oakwood Health System merged with Beaumont Health in 2014. The hospital is now known as Beaumont Dearborn.

Sign in front of Beaumont Hospital – Dearborn, declaring “THIS IS WHERE HEROES WORK,” put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020 by Dearborn residents Waseem Hammoud, owner of Noah’s Signs, and his friend Mohamed Qasim.
Dearborn Hospitals